Only together we can
Blue Magpie Foundation is a UK charity. We work in two places: free education centres in northern Sri Lanka since 2016, and youth programmes in Harrow, London.
Registered charity in England and Wales, number 1169082.
Where we work
Ten years in Sri Lanka
On Friday 16 October 2026 we mark ten years of work in Sri Lanka at Samsung KX, King’s Cross. The evening premieres our ten year film and presents the BMF Awards for Tamil Excellence and Impact.
Stories
In Sri Lanka
BMF raised £227 to bring electricity to Kavipriya’s home so she could study there.
Kavipriya, student, Jaffna. She plans to become a police officer.
Read her story
In the UK
One NextGenDev participant described the programme at a college interview and won a place to study computing.
NextGenDev participant, Harrow.
About NextGenDevAbout Blue Magpie Foundation
Our founders, Kishan and Thivya Ananthan, were born in Sri Lanka. Their parents fled the civil war in the 1980s. The Foundation builds learning, technology and mentoring for young people where life has been hardest.
We teach the skills that break cycles: literacy, technology and leadership. The goal is not escape, but growth.
We believe in depth before scale. Each programme starts small and grows as funding grows.
Partners and funders
Governance
A board of four trustees governs the charity. A small team runs it in London and Sri Lanka.
Get involved
Schools: students can do their DofE Volunteering with BMF. See the DofE routes
In Sri Lanka
Since 2016 Blue Magpie Foundation has taught English, IT and scholarship preparation free of charge. Today five centres teach 125 students aged 5 to 25.
How the centres work
English, IT and scholarship exam preparation. No fees for any student.
Each centre is taught by teachers from its own community, led by a lead teacher and a project manager.
Centres sit in community buildings and are run with local partners.
Teachers report to the project manager every day. The project manager reports to the Founder in London.
Give
That pays for a centre’s teachers and running costs. Five centres cost £15,000 a year.
Runs one centre for a month.
Donate £250 with PayPal You confirm the amount on PayPal. UK taxpayers can add Gift Aid.The centres
The first centre. More than 300 children taught. Hosted by the Wilson Community Centre.
Run with the Sri Muthuvinayagar Community Centre at Ariyalai East. Renovated in September 2026.
BMF Education Centre, Kanagarayankulam. The pilot centre for BMF GEM online mentoring.
English and IT for coastal communities, taught by a local teacher.
Inclusive education with Hope CBR, so children with disabilities can learn with their peers.
September 2026
These photos show the Ariyalai East centre’s repair between 16 and 18 September 2026.
Programmes
UK volunteers mentor students in Sri Lanka in spoken English. School students can count it towards their DofE Volunteering section.
IT and English training for young adults with disabilities, to help them into employment.
Kavipriya’s story
Kavipriya joined BMF in post war Jaffna. BMF raised the funds to bring electricity to her family’s home so she could study. She plans to become a police officer.
Read her storyWhat £250 does
£250 a month pays for a centre’s teachers and running costs. Five centres cost £15,000 a year.
Funding comes from the annual 10K a Day Challenge each October and from gifts from the Tamil diaspora.
People
Manages all five centres in Sri Lanka.
Leads the teaching team across the centres.
Teaches at the Ariyalai East centre.
Independent delivery partner for inclusive education for children with disabilities.
Independent delivery partner hosting the Madduvil centre.
Beyond Sri Lanka
Through school partnerships, BMF is bringing the same centre model to children in fragile settings in Mali.
Madduvil and Ariyalai in Jaffna district, Kanagarayankulam in Vavuniya district, Mannar, and Trincomalee, where BMF works with Hope CBR.
English, IT and scholarship exam preparation, free of charge, to students aged 5 to 25.
£250 a month covers a centre’s teachers and running costs.
Yes. Through BMF GEM, UK volunteers mentor three students each in spoken English, online, once a week.
Blue Magpie Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales, number 1169082. See also our work in the UK.
In the UK
BMF runs small group and one to one programmes for young people aged 13 to 25 in Harrow, London. Every session includes wellbeing.
Why we work in the UK
Young people aged 16 to 24 are not in education, employment or training.
House of Commons Library, 2024Young people aged 11 to 15 have tried drugs. Early misuse is closely tied to later disengagement from education.
NHS Digital, 2023Of sentenced children reoffend within a year. Most struggle with basic literacy and numeracy.
Youth Justice Board, 2023These are not destinies. With education, mentorship and opportunity, every young person can find their direction.
Current programmes
A cybersecurity bootcamp, in person. Sessions also cover digital safety and science based discussion of alcohol, vaping and cannabis. Each starts with a reflection: “What made you smile today?”
About 55 young people completed it across 8 to 9 cycles from November 2024 to March 2025. About 30 attended the graduation in May 2026.
One participant secured a college place in computing after describing the programme at interview.
Three streams:
About 20 young people are in mentoring now. Every session includes a wellbeing check.
Support for families newly arrived in the UK, including from Diego Garcia and Sri Lanka. We help with English, schools and legal systems. Several families now volunteer with us.
UK volunteers mentor students in Sri Lanka through BMF GEM. School students can do their DofE Volunteering section with BMF.
Measuring outcomes
Participants complete two standard questionnaires at the start and end: the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).
Where
Cedars Children’s Centre (two sites) and Harrow Wealdstone Youth Centre.
Referrals
Referrals come from Jobcentre Plus Harrow, Compass Elevation and Harrow Council. Anyone can refer a young person by emailing info@bluemagpiefoundation.com.
Past programme
Creative learning and wellbeing on the Grange Farm Estate: pottery, smoothie making science, go-karting and a shared healthy meal each week. It built teamwork and trust, and shaped how we run every programme since.
People
Leads BrightPath, our six month one to one mentoring programme. Supports grant applications.
Builds referral partnerships and helps young people enrol.
Funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the National Lottery Community Fund, Young Harrow Foundation and 6 Crown Street.
Young people aged 13 to 25 in Harrow. BrightPath also has streams for primary school children and adults.
Email info@bluemagpiefoundation.com with their name, age and what support they need.
Yes. BMF recruits volunteer mentors for BrightPath and for BMF GEM. Contact us.
Blue Magpie Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales, number 1169082. See also our work in Sri Lanka.
Who we are
Blue Magpie Foundation runs free education centres in northern Sri Lanka and youth programmes in Harrow, London. It is registered in England and Wales, number 1169082.
Our story
Our founders, Thomas Kishan Ananthan and Thivya Ananthan, were born in Sri Lanka and raised in Paris and London. Their parents fled the Sri Lankan civil war in the 1980s.
Growing up without safety nets, they learned that education can open doors no hardship can close. In 2016 they began teaching in post war Jaffna. That first initiative is now five centres in Sri Lanka and a set of programmes in Harrow.
The Sri Lanka blue magpie is raised not only by its parents but by the wider flock.
It is endemic to Sri Lanka. We chose it because young people do best with a community around them.
Our approach
Small groups where every learner is known. We grow as funding grows.
Teachers and partners from each community, with guidance from London.
English, digital skills, mentoring and wellbeing.
What works in Jaffna informs Harrow, and the reverse.
Our people
BMF is governed by a board of trustees and run by a small team in London and Sri Lanka, with volunteers in both countries.
Founded BMF in 2016. Leads strategy, partnerships, programmes and the Sri Lanka centres.
Co-founded BMF in 2016.
The trustees govern the charity and are accountable for its work.
Founder and CEO of COORD. Former Senior Strategy Consultant at EY-Parthenon. Founded the Sirrukikal Literacy Campaign, teaching English to 200 students in eastern Sri Lanka.
More than 20 years of board secretary experience.
Runs Nachatiram CIC.
CEO of Breakthrough Social Enterprise.
UK volunteer mentors support BrightPath.
Leads BrightPath, our six month one to one mentoring programme. Supports grant applications.
Builds referral partnerships and helps young people enrol.
Local teachers deliver classes at Mannar and Madduvil.
Manages all five centres in Sri Lanka.
Leads the teaching team across the centres.
Teaches at the Ariyalai East centre.
Independent delivery partner for inclusive education for children with disabilities.
Independent delivery partner hosting the Madduvil centre.
Blue Magpie Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales, number 1169082. Want to help? Get involved.
Vision and mission
We open pathways of learning so that children and young people can shape their own futures.
Our vision
A world where young people who start from crowded rooms, or learn differently, still rise to lead.
Our mission
We teach young people to build technology and community, and we nurture resilience, character and leadership.
What we believe
It equips a child to stand tall, contribute and lead.
Young people should learn to build technology, not only use it.
Ability is widely distributed. Access is not. We work to close that gap.
With guidance, resilience learned early becomes service and steadiness.
Mentors, teachers, neighbours and partners share the work with parents.
The questions in Harrow echo those in Jaffna and Bamako. We share what works.
What we do about it
Impact stories
The figures show reach. These stories show what it means for a student and a family.
Jaffna, Sri Lanka
After the civil war, Kavipriya’s family lived for years in difficult conditions. From her first days at BMF she showed a passion for English and sat at the front of the class.
BMF raised £227 to bring electricity to her family’s home so she could study there. The last time we spoke, she wanted to become a police officer and serve her community.
Harrow, London
One NextGenDev participant described what they had learned on the programme at a college interview. They were offered a place to study computing.
Where the money went
A team of four walked 10,000 steps a day for 100 days. After fees and with Gift Aid, it raised £2,203. This is how it was spent.
| Covid support: basic necessities for 83 families in Madduvil | £917 |
| Classes from May 2022 to September 2023: English and scholarship lessons for 50 children in Madduvil | £818 |
| Electricity for Kavipriya’s family home | £227 |
| Donation to Ummah Welfare Bangladesh for Rohingya children, June 2023 | £162 |
| Total spent | £2,175 |
Get involved
Give, volunteer, fundraise or partner with us. £250 runs one centre in Sri Lanka for a month.
Give securely through PayPal. If you are a UK taxpayer, Gift Aid adds 25p to every pound.
Donate with PayPalMentor a young person in Harrow through BrightPath, or three students in Sri Lanka through BMF GEM.
Contact usJoin the 10K a Day Challenge every October, or set up your own challenge on JustGiving.
Start fundraisingMany employers match what their staff give or raise. Ask your HR team about matched giving.
Ask us howGive
That pays for a centre’s teachers and running costs. Five centres cost £15,000 a year.
Runs one centre for a month.
Donate £250 with PayPal You confirm the amount on PayPal. UK taxpayers can add Gift Aid.Campaigns
Supporters walk, cycle and run to fund the centres. Every October, the 10K a Day Challenge.
Walk 10,000 steps a day through October. Supporters set up a JustGiving page and share their progress. It is BMF’s main annual fundraiser for the Sri Lanka centres.
Sign up on JustGivingLavan Uthamakunan cycled about 950 miles, from the south west tip of the UK to the north east, for BMF’s work in Sri Lanka.
Lavan’s JustGiving pageDuring the January 2021 lockdown, supporters walked 10,000 steps a day for 100 days. Top fundraiser: Shanthosh Ananthan, £1,130.
How the money was spentDuke of Edinburgh’s Award
Students can complete the Volunteering section of their DofE Award with BMF. There are two routes. Both support children at our five free education centres in northern Sri Lanka.
Route 1
Mentor young learners in Sri Lanka through weekly online English sessions.
Download the poster
Route 2
Do your Volunteering section as fundraising, in a team of four to six.
Download the poster
Students plan and run their own sessions or campaigns.
Weekly teaching or pitching to local businesses.
Fundraising teams set targets and track what they raise.
BMF confirms hours and outcomes for the Assessor’s report.
Yes. Both routes are volunteering for a registered charity. Your DofE Leader approves the activity. BMF confirms your hours for the Assessor’s report.
Bronze, Silver and Gold. Teams commit for the full length of their section: 3, 6 or 12 months. Check your section length.
A one off sponsored event on its own, or the training for it. Volunteering must be regular, about an hour a week. Talk to your DofE Leader before you start.
No. Mentoring is online and fundraising is done locally in the UK.
Email info@bluemagpiefoundation.com with your school, DofE level and number of students.
Blue Magpie Foundation. Registered charity in England and Wales, number 1169082.
London anniversary gathering
Ten years of free education centres in northern Sri Lanka. We mark it at Samsung KX on 16 October.
Places are limited. The Trustees confirm every request.
Ten years in Sri Lanka
Our founders, Kishan and Thivya Ananthan, were born in Sri Lanka. Their parents fled the civil war in the 1980s. In 2016 they returned to the Northern Province and began teaching English and IT, free of charge.
Today BMF runs five centres. Each teaches English, IT and scholarship preparation to students aged 5 to 25. One centre runs on £250 a month. BMF has won £60,000 in grants, including from the National Lottery.
Kavipriya’s story
Kavipriya joined BMF in post war Jaffna. BMF raised the funds to bring electricity to her family’s home so she could study. She sits at the front of the class and plans to become a police officer.
Read her storyThe story so far
The ten year film premieres on the night. This earlier film shows the work in Jaffna.
September 2026
At Ariyalai East, the Sri Muthuvinayagar Community Centre is run in partnership with BMF. These photos show its repair between 16 and 18 September.
The evening
Getting there
1 Stable Street, Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross, London N1C 4DQ.
A short walk from King’s Cross St Pancras station.
Recognition
For people and organisations whose work strengthens communities in Sri Lanka and the Tamil diaspora. One recipient is named in each category on the night.
Hosts
Blue Magpie Foundation (BMF) is a UK charity registered in England and Wales, number 1169082. It was founded in 2016 by Kishan and Thivya Ananthan. It runs five free education centres in northern and eastern Sri Lanka and youth programmes in Harrow, London.
Friday 16 October 2026, 7pm to 9.30pm, at Samsung KX, 1 Stable Street, King’s Cross, London N1C 4DQ.
No. Attendance is by invitation and there is no charge.
Request a place on the event page at luma.com/t332r7wl. The Trustees confirm each request. Places are limited.
Five awards for people and organisations whose work strengthens communities in Sri Lanka and the Tamil diaspora. They are presented on the evening.
BMF works with Patrons, partners, volunteers and schools. See Get Involved or email info@bluemagpiefoundation.com.
Blue Magpie Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales, number 1169082.
Supported by the National Lottery Community Fund, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Young Harrow Foundation and 6 Crown Street.
News
Updates from the centres in Sri Lanka, our programmes in Harrow, and our events.
On 16 October 2026 we mark the first decade at Samsung KX, King’s Cross, with the premiere of our ten year film and the BMF Awards for Tamil Excellence and Impact.
Read more
BMF visited the centres in September. The Ariyalai East centre was repaired between 16 and 18 September.
Read more
Two routes for students: online English mentoring for students in Sri Lanka, or a fundraising team.
Read moreContact
To partner with us, volunteer, refer a young person or ask a question.
Follow us
In the UK · past programme
A 10 month programme with the MyYard Foundation for children on the Grange Farm Estate, Harrow. October 2023 to July 2024.
Interviews set individual learning goals for each of the six children.
Each child’s progress was reviewed monthly and teaching adjusted.
Go-karting, an escape room and shared dinners with mentors.
Online sessions with professionals, including an A&E doctor.
Medicine, finance, graphic design, creative journalism, architecture, physics, drama and fashion.
Privacy
How Blue Magpie Foundation uses personal information. Last updated 25 September 2026.
Blue Magpie Foundation is a charitable incorporated organisation registered in England and Wales, number 1169082. Our address is Hindes Road, Harrow, HA1 1SQ. We are responsible for the personal information described here. Contact us at info@bluemagpiefoundation.com.
We rely on your consent, our legitimate interest in running and funding the charity, and our legal obligations, for example keeping financial and Gift Aid records.
We do not sell personal information. We share it only with the services that help us run the charity, such as PayPal, JustGiving and Luma, and with HMRC for Gift Aid claims.
We keep information only as long as we need it. Financial and Gift Aid records are kept for six years, as HMRC requires.
You can ask to see, correct or delete the information we hold about you, or object to how we use it. Email info@bluemagpiefoundation.com. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.
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